I have developed this area to give you resources to help find a job in the criminal justice field. I have also added tips for interviews and resumes.
LAW ENFORCEMENT-RELATED: Related Mega-Sites: U.S. Police Departments where Employment Opportunities are often found on agency home pages; see CALEA for a list of accredited police agencies and APAI for a 1996 list of agencies requiring the 4-yr college degree.
* LawEnforcementJob.com An employment portal, links, and exchange site.
* OFFICER.COM Employment Directory Federal and state-by-state listings from this popular site. For both seekers & providers.
* Bob's Cops Employment Page Dedicated to cop employment, testing aides, links, etc. Makes the whole process better than searching the Net forever.
* City County Jobs Local government connections with a law enforcement emphasis
* Cop-Spot List of Law Enforcement Jobs Snazzy page by owner of a Web Ring. It's a popular site with a very helpful webmaster.
* Cop Career Center Fairly new page of indexed jobs.
* Criminal Justice Archive Helpful page devoted to finding/indexing available jobs.
* Criminal Justice Career.com Useful site with a variety of jobs in the field.
* Criminal Justice Schools.com Useful site with a helpful search feature.
* International Association of Crime Analysts This site has a jobs board as well as other information.
* Jobs4police.com An effective guide and "hot jobs" listings in top departments, a free service.
* National Directory of Emergency Services Police and Fire jobs listed here. Good source of information on a nationwide scale.
* NC Police Job Hunting Resources Weaver's page is great. You can search newspaper ads.
* NC Law Enforcement Jobs Bank The old NCJA BBS, updated weekly.
* Police Guide Employment Pages Another popular site that tries to list only current job openings. Regularly updated and maintained.
* Public Safety Recruitment A fee-based service. This is the newsletter you often see on bulletin boards around college campuses.
* State Police Information Center Another fee-based provider of state and federal career information.
* Law Enforcement Careers Publishers of state and federal career, testing & interviewing guides.
COURT-RELATED JOBS:
The Legal Employment Search Site Plan to spend at least half a day with this one. Lots of links.
Quid Pro Quo's List of Legal Jobs A site designed to help law students & job seekers.
The ABA's Internships and Jobs site Helpful page with legal and nonlegal resources.
CORRECTION-RELATED JOBS:
Corrections Connections The premiere corrections-related site devoted to nationwide coverage.
The ACA Jobs Bank Job listings from this professional association.
NC Division of Corrections jobs Correctional job openings in North Carolina. For Central Prison Positions (C.O., Food Service, Maintenance) go to 1300 Western Blvd, Raleigh or Call 919-733-0800 OTHER STATES: Massachusetts, Florida.
NYS C.O.'s Information Page Correctional jobs openings/issues in New York State area.
JailNet State-by-state information at this well-organized site.
ACADEMIC JOBS: Related Mega-Sites: State-by-State guide to Starting Salaries, Grad Schools in CJ.
* Academic Employment Network - A commercial site, free for job-seekers, fee for employers, mostly high school jobs, some college, searchable by state.
* Academic Position Network (APN) A more widely-used, commercial site, mostly college.
* ASA Employment Guide Instructors and Professors wanted in Sociology departments, some with a Crime or Deviance specialty. Free newsletter updated monthly.
* Chronicle of Higher Education The premiere site for Instructors and Professors wanted in Criminal Justice departments. Free web edition updated every Friday.
* Jobs in Higher Education This site has really come a long way. If you're looking for a site that indexes all the personnel and human resources depts. of colleges and universities by state, this is it; totally free.
* Higher Education Jobs Free site with daily updates and 1000's of jobs listed.
* Nation's Jobs Bank Limited paid links for educators, but a free Scout service.
* Yahoo Guide to Jobs in Education A shortcut to their Educator Jobs linklist.
POLICE DEPARTMENTS THAT USUALLY HAVE OPEN RECRUITMENT:
OUT-OF-STATE:
* Albuquerque, New Mexico
* Anchorage, Alaska
* Augusta, Maine
* Baltimore County
* Berkeley, California
* Boulder, Colorado
* California in general
* Dallas, Texas
* Fargo, North Dakota
* Florida Marine Patrol
* Georgia B of I
* Houston, Texas
* Jacksonville Beach, FL
* Los Angeles, California
* Nashville, Tennessee
* New Orleans, Louisiana
* Portland, Oregon
* Prince George Co., Maryland
* Pueblo County, Colorado
* Sacramento, California
* Spokane, Washington
IN-STATE OR NEAR ROCKY MOUNT:
* Chesterfield County, Virginia
* Duke University Public Safety
* Gaston County Police Dept.
* Hampton, VA Police Dept.
* Raleigh, North Carolina
* VCU Police Department
* Winston-Salem, North Carolina
PRIVATE SECURITY POSITIONS:
* Allied Security. http://bartonsolutions.com/
* Brinks www.brinks.com
* APS (Corporate Security)
* Guardsmark
* Wackenhut www.wackenhut.com
* Watchdog
* Wells Fargo Armored Car Services.
* Universal Protection Service www.universalpro.com
federal jobs (Related Mega-Site: U.S. Police Depts):
* The U.S. Customs Service has open periods of recruitment, usually around October or so.
* FBI Personnel and Employment Information and statistics on recruitment, hiring, salaries, and other things.
* Park & Summer Camp Jobs for a link to outdoor and/or seasonal employment.
Federal Gateway to Jobs Quick access to some information which is free (example: the U.S. Marshals when they have an "open period"). This place charges ten bucks ($10) for their exam prep booklets and other stuff, which doesn't seem like a bad deal. Of course, OPM will send you exam prep materials free anyway, which in most cases, is more than adequate, but this place is also starting to sell booklets for state-by-state trooper jobs and correctional officer exams. An even better FREE link is at Govtjobs.com.
Recruitment Pages of Federal Agencies This site claims to index these pages for as many federal agencies that do this, but in most cases, the links take you to the agency page.
State Police Information Center Don't let the name fool you; this site has guides to both state and FEDERAL employment, e-mail services, booklets for sale, and the occasional free information, like when the U.S. Marshal's have an open period.
Federal Jobs at OPM The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the official Personnel Office for all federal agencies. Their HUGE jobs page is at usajobs. You need to make note of the vacancy announcement and any supplemental qualifications statement for each job title you're interested in along with the 6-digit control number for the vacancy announcement. To browse through the announcements, it may help to know that criminal justice careers are split into two categories: both Professional Careers and Entry Level Professional Careers. Another way to browse is via Fedworld's FTP site. If this link works, you should start seeing all federal job announcements for the North Carolina area on your screen. For other parts of the country, try Fedworld's Search Site. If you get caught up on a page that keep asking you for a code number, try a series of nines, like 999, and this should let you in. The database is updated every Tuesday thru Saturday at 9:30am EST. You will need Form OF-612 and a resume to apply for most federal jobs. If you have trouble downloading the form, you may find it helpful and convenient to visit one of the regional OPM Service Centers to pick up the form. The nearest one is located at 4407 Bland Rd., Suite 200, Raleigh, NC 27609 and the phone number is 919-790-2817.
Civil Service/OSP/DES Job Openings:
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas
California Colorado Connecticut Delaware
Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho
Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas
Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland
Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi
Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada
New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York
North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma
Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina
South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah
Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia
Wisconsin Wyoming District of Columbia
GENERAL SITES:
USENET NEWSGROUPS: (Some of these are set up for posting resumes, but most are not, and you can read the latest flame wars.) Here's some common groups:
* misc.jobs.offered (Entry level positions)
* misc.jobs.contract (Short-term contract positions while between jobs)
* misc.jobs.resumes (A resume posting service)
* misc.jobs.wanted (A place to post your "dream job")
WEB SITES: (Internet web sites in this area defy categorization, but generally can be divided into three types: ADVICE sites; JOB DATABASES, and RESUME DATABASES. The advice sites sometimes offer the other two services. Job Databases usually consist of job openings that have been extracted from state employment office listings, other sources, and the occasional headhunter or employer recruitment campaign. Resume Databases allow you to post your resume, and are based on the idea that recruiters browse through these in searching for a pool of applicants. Each site has its own "hype" about how many and which kind of employers browse their databases. I recommend the following full-service sites:)
AfterCollege (ADVICE, JOBS, INTERNSHIPS) A good site for everything from entry-level jobs to post-doc opportunities.
Career Overview (ADVICE, JOBS) A good site for exploring different career possibilities.
HeadHunter.net (JOBS) This is a great place to post your resume for free, and look at over 200,000 fairly executive-level jobs in a variety of fields. The companies that post the ads are usually employment search agencies or executive recruitment firms, but in many cases, it's the agency itself looking to find someone for a hard-to-fill position.
Monster.com (ADVICE, JOBS, RESUMES) A frequently pointed-to large site that allows you to post your resume and do other things that employers will notice (follow the "hype"). They have a geographic-based jobs database, some advice pages, and other unique information. Tends to absorb resume-posting sites like America's Job Bank and the CareerWeb which get their information from state employment bureaus.
NationJob Network (ADVICE, JOBS) An online job listing service rated as one of the top 5 in this area. They have a variety of services for job seekers, extensive speciality sites by occupational area, and job openings and company information for thousands of employers worldwide.
Net Temps (ADVICE, JOBS) A good site for beginners to online job searches. They have an extensive database which is updated every 24 hours.
If you're not into posting your online resume and just want to browse, try one of the HUGE, but lamer sites, such as: Career Magazine (the best of this group), CareerNet, CareerSite, or JobTrak. These will provide you with enough links to keep you busy for days. Career Magazine, for example, scans Usenet Newsgroups and provides Forums to ask questions. JobTrak might require you contact your College Career Office for a password.
If you're ready to POST YOUR RESUME (congratulations if you are, because 80% of people wimp out at this stage), then here are the places to go. Don't dismiss the ones I've listed as "partially fee-based" because they might be free to you, but cost the employer to look. Sites with revenue sources usually do a better job of presenting your stuff.
* Career Mosaic (free resume posting)
* The Monster Board (free resume posting & online applications)
* Career Magazine (a searchable resume bank)
* Recruiters Online (partially fee-based resume posting)
* Career Connections (accepts online "profiles" of yourself)
* JobBank USA (partially fee-based resume posting)
* Job Center (claims to be a technology and career portal)
* Net Jobs (Canada's premiere job-hunting site)
* Southeastern-Atlantic Coast Career Network (free resume posting by major)
* WWW Employment Office (fee-based resume posting)
FREE-LANCE Jobs and Free Jobs for free-lancers.
INTERNSHIPS: One of the worst mistakes you can make when seeking an internship and/or job with a CJ agency is to call them yourself via telephone. Most agencies tolerate the usual calls about job openings ("We list through the State Employment Office" or "See our Recruitment Page on the Web"), and some agencies actually do process the unsolicited resumes that are sent to them via e-mail. PHONE CALLS are another matter, especially when asking about internships. In almost all cases, it's best to initiate the process of obtaining an internship through your college or university's internship officer or other official, or if inquiring in North Carolina, you should contact the Director of State Government Internships, 217 West Jones St., Raleigh, NC 27603 (919) 733-9296.
FEDERAL PROGRAMS:
o FBI Summer Honors Internship - Apply by November 1 to meet the deadline.
For other tips on making your internship a successful experience, try visiting the Online Student Center. Also see Internet Resume Tips and Salary and Negotiation Strategies when you're ready to talk business with your internship provider, employer, or boss.
How to Get a Job in Criminal Justice:
THE APPLICATION, INTERVIEW, AND SELECTION PROCESS
Plan your career as best you can by keeping current on employment trends and job descriptions. Both are available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at their Employment Projections Site and their Occupational Outlook Handbook site, where you can find the fastest growing jobs in the nation (a frequently requested table). Look at state-by-state analyses, and avoid states where there have been cutbacks in law enforcement, the courts, or corrections. Make use of the Career Services center at your local college or library. Utilize the people you know: CJ faculty, alumni, fellow students, and professionals. Go with one of your professors to a professional association meeting (Like LAE, ACA, ACJS, or ASC) and you will find plenty of job opportunities. Consider joining one of those associations or other professional associations (as a student member with reduced fees) as their newsletters will be invaluable to you. Subscribe to Internet Discussion groups and post questions. Subscribe to one of the many monthly newsletters available to association members or members of groups that put out such newsletters. Word of mouth is not the best way to go. You need to do a lot of legwork.
Try to be as certain as you can about what's important to you on the job; e.g. geographic location, freedom, pay, security, praise, promotion, chances to learn, chances to do something worthwhile. Most CJ jobs offer freedom from being cooped up behind a desk, but you will never get rich, and you will get little praise (depending on your supervisor), and lack of promotion is the number one cause of burnout. The most "politically correct" motives are: the chance to do things you do best and further develop your skills and abilities; and chances to accomplish something worthwhile (although avoid coming off like an idealistic do-gooder with this latter motive).
CHOOSING A PARTICULAR CAREER OPTION
Each level of government (federal, state, county, local) has its own benefits and costs, and all the diffrent job titles (see below) have different pay grades. Federal and state jobs have the most pay and prestige, but you will almost certainly have to relocate. Here are some entry-level minimums to make sure you don't sell yourself short:
Federal jobs should start at AT LEAST $35,000
State jobs should start at AT LEAST $30,000
County jobs should start at AT LEAST $25,000
City jobs should start at AT LEAST $25,000
Correctional pay varies tremendously from state-to-state. States with big prison systems like Texas, Illinois, New York and New Jersey may start their entry-level correctional officers as high as $35,000.
Jobs in probation and parole also have salaries that vary widely. Federal probation has some of the highest salaries in CJ, usually around $40,000 or more to start.
With law enforcement, try to maximize your salary potential by choosing large agencies with lots of job titles, especially civilian ones. Big cities are your best bet, but bigger is not necessarily better in some cases. Expect to start out no less than $25,000 in a metropolitan department, and as high as $38,000 in others.
GETTING PREPARED
The ten steps to getting an appointment include: (1) application (2) entrance exam (3) physical testing (4) medical examination (5) interview (6) psychological testing (7) background check; and AFTER appointment (8) academy training (9) field training (10) civil service exam (for promotional purposes).
Steps #3 and #4 are the most critical in terms of general preparation. Find a sport or exercise regimen that you are comfortable with and develop your physical fitness. Fitness is one of the most important criteria for obtaining a job in CJ. Forget the fact that 60% of all those already employed are overweight; being "out of shape" is a legal issue today for most agencies. Fitness is not something you can prepare for overnight.
Try to max out on the physical fitness standards. Don't just settle for the average or required amount. Impress them as this is a quick and easy way to earn extra points and catch up to someone earning extra preference for being a protected class. Here's some of the tougher (federal) standards:
Pull-ups (palms out) AVG 10 MAX 25 in 1 minute
Sit-ups (alt.) AVG 70 MAX 100 in 1 minute
Push-ups AVG 40 MAX 85 in 1 minute
300-yd run AVG 60sec MAX 50sec or 2-mile run AVG 12min MAX 10min
Many agencies (state and local) use the following chart for their fitness standards where a score of 1 (Provisional) in any category automatically disqualifies you, and an overall average of 2.5 or less eliminates you from further consideration:
Exercise
Under 30
Under 30
Over 30
Over 30
Situps
Points
Male
Female
Male
Female
Distinguished
5
51
42
45
37
Commendable
4
40-50
33-41
34-44
28-36
Competent
3
35-39
29-32
29-33
24-27
Marginal
2
24-34
20-28
18-28
15-23
Provisional
1
0-23
0-19
0-17
0-14
Pushups
Points
Male
Female
Male
Female
Distinguished
5
43
24
37
20
Commendable
4
28-42
15-23
23-36
13-19
Competent
3
20-27
11-14
17-22
9-12
Marginal
2
5-19
3-10
3-16
2-8
Provisional
1
0-4
0-2
0-2
0-1
Mile+1/2 run
Points
Male
Female
Male
Female
Distinguished
5
10:15
11:41
11:00
12:32
Commendable
4
12:00-10:16
13:41-11:42
13:00-11:01
14:49-12:33
Competent
3
14:30-12:01
16:31-13:42
15:30-13:01
17:40-14:50
Marginal
2
16:30-14:31
18:49-16:32
17:30-15:31
19:57-17:41
Provisional
1
16:31
18:50
17:31
19:58
If you have any kind of functional or organic disorder, it becomes the duty of your medical examiner to qualify or disqualify you. This may include high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, smoking status, drug use, and diabetes or epilepsy. If you smoke, stop, since recently quitting tobacco is not held against you. If you used drugs (including a history of alcohol abuse, casual use of marijuana, or psychotropic medication), about 75% of agencies will exclude you. Some will accept the fact you experimented with marijuana as long as it was not prolonged or recent usage, but they are generally not forgiving of the slightest experimentation with hallucinogens such as LSD, mushrooms, etc. Most agencies will accept corrected vision (no worse than 20/40 uncorrected, but in some cases as bad as 20/100 if at least one eye is correctable to 20/20), but not color blindness nor deafness. The Americans with Disabilities Act allows anyone to apply and prohibits any disability-related inquiry prior to a conditional job offer. The job offer will be conditioned on the results of a confidential medical exam which is used to determine if the department can make reasonable accommodations or cannot due to business necessity.
Your criminal history should be clear of felonies and serious misdemeanors (anything punishable by 1 year or more). Many people have had run-ins with the law sometime in their life, so most examiners are sympathetic, but expect sympathies and interpretations of what constitutes a "serious misdemeanor" to vary. Above all, don't try to hide anything. In general, they are more forgiving the younger you were when it happened and if it did not imply that you like to challenge authority. Some agencies still use a "moral turpitude" clause, which includes rape, any sexual offense, indecent liberties, use, sale, or manufacture of any controlled substance, or any offense addressing public morality. Bad check writing, speeding tickets, and things like that will probably be overlooked. Things like stealing or fighting tend to be looked at more closely because they suggest you are dishonest or hot-headed. The Criminal Records division of the State Police will allow you to look at your record beforehand and assist you with correcting errors, but to wipe something out will more than likely require a petition for expungement with the District Attorney from the jurisdiction where it was recorded. Although you don't even need a driver's license to take the entrance exam, it's a definite plus to have a clean driving record as the time of appointment rolls around. You should also have a clean credit history, or at least no signs of continual poor financial responsibility, such as records of late payments, wage garnishments, or bankruptcy.
With regards to the psychological profile, the only way to prepare is simply get a good night's sleep beforehand, eat, and arrive early enough so you are not nervous, anxious, depressed, or in any acute mental state. Relax, remain calm, and be honest but use your best judgment, regardless of whether you are answering written or verbal questions.
Although some places (like North Carolina) have outlawed polygraph evidence in courts of law, most police agencies still rely on it for employment purposes. Try to breathe steadily and act normally if you take the polygraph. Theoretically, the machine and its operator are supposed to be able to get at "intent", but in practice, they will detect any guilty (or angry) reactions on your part due to some pretty sneaky questioning. Your best bet is to have been brutally honest about your past up to this point. Some agencies have substituted other types of assessment exercises to get at your honesty and integrity. You may find that someone "accidently" left his or her wallet in the restroom (to see if you turn it in); you may be asked how serious a colleague's misconduct has to be before you would report them; or you may have to address hypothetical scenarios such as if your senior patrol partner disappears into a tavern for over an hour. In general, examiners like it when you show a willingness to be tough and hard, but they also don't like whistle-blowers and snitches.
Anticipate that finding the ideal job will take at least three months of hard work. For this effort, you may have to wait approximately six months to two years before the agency actually hires you. Since some places make you wait as long as two years, you should consider a serious job search sometime in your sophomore or junior year of college.
Anything you can do to get your foot in the door or build up some experience (which often substitutes for education) during this waiting period is useful. Does the agency need volunteers? Does it have a police auxiliary or a reserve program? Can you voluntarily attend classes and workshops held at their training center?
ADS, RESUMES, AND APPLICATIONS
Often, a job ad will appear one day only in a newspaper. The Sunday papers are your best bet. Such ads will usually say respond with a cover letter and resume, and you should respond in such manner by the required date, but remember that some agencies don't treat you as having technically filed unless you fill out their application form. If it exists, a document called the "Job Announcement" will list detailed instructions for applicants. Remember that the purpose of filing out an application is to be notified by mail when and where to appear for the entrance examination.
In responding to an ad, your cover letter should be specific to the job advertised, and addressed to an individual, if possible. Keep the cover letter to one page, match your qualifications to any requirements listed in the ad, and strive for a combination of modesty and self-confidence.
One to two page resumes are sufficient for entry-level positions; three to four pages for management jobs. Education and training (dates, course titles, and degrees) should be listed first in an easy-to-read format. Then should follow your job experience, but be cautious with job titles. If you once attended a neighborhood watch meeting, don't put down you were a crime prevention specialist. Copies of diplomas and photographs are usually unnecessary. It is better to provide names and means of contacting your references on the resume instead of simply saying "available on request". Consider sending your material by priority mail as this indicates you are a candidate concerned enough to make sure it arrived, and don't rule out the option of hand-delivering your material to let them associate a name with a face. Remember, too much data is the number one fault on resumes. Keep it brief, but well documented, with no gaps in employment dates. And don't forget a follow-up letter about a week or two later.
The following is a sample cover letter and resume.
SAMPLE COVER LETTER
December 1, 1998
Capt. Robert Jones
Director of Training and Recruitment
Anytown Police Department
Anytown, Anystate 00000
Dear Capt. Jones:
I am applying for a police officer position with your department. Enclosed is my resume.
As my resume indicates, I will have a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice next May and I have had considerable work experience while attending college. Although I have gained valuable experience in a variety of areas, my particular interest is in a police career. Your ad said that applicants should be academy-certified or certifiable, and I would be more than willing to attend the academy you send your recruits to as this would further develop the skills and abilities I can already bring to your department.
Please inform me if there are any further requirements to the application process. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. My telephone number is 555-1234 and my mailing address is listed below.
Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully submitted,
Jack Smith
1116 Collegetown Apts
Anytown, USA 00000
504-555-9876
SAMPLE RESUME
Jack Smith
1116 Collegetown Apts.
Anytown, USA 00000
OBJECTIVE: Entry-level position in law enforcement
EDUCATION: North Carolina Wesleyan College Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice Expected graduation date: May 2001 Dean's list eight times; G.P.A.: 3.53 (4.0 scale)
EXPERIENCE: Target Department Store (1/97 - ), Security duties, safety and sanitation, storage of combustibles, customer surveillance.
Applebee's Restaurant (1/96 - 12/96), Customer service, safety and sanitation duties, payroll and bank deposits security escort.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield (5/95 -1/96) Bureau of Fraud Investigation Intern, Fraud Investigator Investigate allegations of fraud, conduct interviews, prepare written reports.
North Carolina Wesleyan College (12/93 to 5/95) Parking Enforcement Specialist Patrol parking lots on foot, write citations, supervise dormatory residents.
Nash County District Attorney's Office (1/93 to 2/93) Nash County Courthouse, Nashville, NC Release-on-Recognizance Intake Specialist (Intern) Interview and process recently arrested defendants, verify community affiliations.
ACTIVITIES: Criminal Justice Club, Office of Secretary/Treasurer; Lambda Alpha Epsilon member
REFERENCES: Drs., other professors, former employers, and co-workers
OTHER TIPS IN JOB HUNTING
Some job openings in CJ are either not advertised or unscrupuously filled before an ad is placed (meaning they have had their eye on an internal candidate all along and nepotism is likely to rear its ugly head). The serious job hunter does not let this bother them, and continues to stop in at federal, state, county and municipal offices every now and then to check job postings or to ask what is available or anticipated. You can discover anticipated job openings (and even build yourself up as that favored internal candidate) by networking, having a list of contacts who will share with you their experiences, and knowing the different agencies' hiring seasons. CJ faculty, career services, and computer bulletin board systems are good sources for garnishing this experience and expertise. Not being in the rumor mill may cost you that dream job when you find out too late that the State Police, for example, were going to hire 200 more troopers off the streets in July. Although many places find telephone inquiries annoying, some fairly nonthreatening and acceptable things to talk about on the telephone is to ask if: (1) the agency you are calling has or expects any openings; (2) if not, whether you can get on any mailing list to be kept informed of future openings; (3) if not, whether the officer you are talking to knows of any other agencies who are or expect to be hiring. You should generally avoid FAX machines in your job search unless the agency has already shown some interest in you. Always use the non-emergency number when you call an agency.
As stated previously, some places require application forms. You should be able to easily transfer the information on your resume to such a form. Obtain and fill out some standard application forms at home on a typewriter or use your best printing. Some applications ask for personal EEO information; ethnicity, religion, marital status, and although it is "optional" for you to fill these sections out, it is usually in your best interests to do so. Do not leave any section of an application blank, even if you have to write N/A or Not Applicable. Application forms, unlike resumes, may require photocopies of your credentials and transcripts to be attached, so have these on hand.
With federal jobs, you will have to obtain and fill out Form OF-612 with job title and vacancy announcement numbers you have obtained from a national or regional list. For state jobs (like North Carolina), you will have to obtain and fill out Form PD-107a. Pay attention to the code numbers on the forms and the instruction sheets because they determine if you wind up on the nationwide list, or have targeted a specific geographical location where you know in advance through some contact of an anticipated hiring. It helps to know the agency's name and code number for a specific job in a specific region where the agency you're interested in is located. Most OPM officials at regional offices will give you this information, but you should double check with the specific agency you are applying to. Some administrators still call up their A and B lists from OPM, and often a B-list candidate has an edge because of presumably more interest in that region or agency. To avoid repeated filling out of forms, photocopy the first such application form you fill out, leaving any identifying information about a specific agency blank. Then, when another job announcement comes along, simply fill in the agency information. In fact, you can do this with just about any standard application form once you find out the ones most commonly in use.
ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS
Normally, entrance exams (most typically found in big cities) are held on Saturday mornings at local high schools or community colleges, and there is sometimes (not very often) a nominal fee of around $25 to take the exam. There are other statewide certification exams, but you usually have to complete extended study at a basic academy of some sort first. States that have well-organized BLET programs (like North Carolina) usually don't require entry exams at individual police departments because the state board exam you take at the end of your BLET training suffices. But here, we are talking about entry exams held at (big city) agencies that usually have "open recruitment". Although the only people who are supposed to be there are those who filed an application or interest card ahead of time and were notified by mail, some jurisdictions allow last minute "walk-ins" which do not require prior filing. You can even find out about "walk-in" opportunities by contacting your local Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, FOP Lodge, or the worker's union hall.
Every exam you take, whether entrance or promotional, will probably have about 80-125 multiple-choice questions. Every exam you take will be timed. Entire exams take from three and a half to four hours to complete, and certain sections are themselves timed as little as 10 minutes. You may or may not be allowed a scratch sheet of paper, but in any event, you are not allowed to use any notes or look back at the original material you read when answering a question.
Each level of government will emphasize a different part of the exam. Municipal departments tend to devote more questions to general knowledge and understanding/applying department procedures. County and state jobs will devote more of their examinations to traffic maps and patrol tactics. Federal exams will ask more questions about your investigative judgment.
The basic format of an entrance exam is divided into two parts:
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE (1) Reading comprehension (2) Sentence ordering (3) Paragraph writing (4) Arithmetic reasoning (5) Memory and observation SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE (6) Applying department policy (7) Understanding orders and directives (8) Legal vocabulary (9) Patrol tactics and traffic maps (10) Using department forms (11) Composite sketches (12) Investigative judgment
Starting with general knowledge, reading comprehension questions require total concentration. You may be given a sample interpretation of a Supreme Court decision or a statement of facts about a crime incident. It helps if you have a good vocabulary. Pay attention to key facts (who, what, where, when) and key words or phrases (all, never, sometimes).
Sentence ordering will present you with a series of sentences, usually five, and you then choose which way of arranging those sentences is the most logical sequence.
Paragraph writing questions give you a series of facts about an incident and then require you to choose which of four paragraphs most clearly expresses the given series of facts. Choose the one that is most clear, complete, and concise.
Arithmetic reasoning tests your skill at addition, subtraction, and algebra. You may be given an inventory of stolen property or listing of department equipment, and you must calculate certain partial and total values. You may be asked to find the algebraic equation that best expresses in a formula the amount of time certain functions are performed on a tour of duty.
Memory and observation questions come in two forms: written and pictorial. You are permitted ten minutes to read a rather lengthy narrative and commit as much of it as you can to memory. Then, you must close your book and answer a series of lengthy questions without referring back to the written material. Pay attention to names, dates, times, and addresses. For pictorial material, you get a minute or two to look at the picture of a busy downtown street or a complex crime scene, and then you answer a series of questions. Pay close attention in pictures to things like the time on a clock, names on street signs, addresses, license plates, open doors, broken windows, weapons, and hiding places. Count all the people, vehicles, and other objects in the picture. After you are required to close your book and allowed to start answering questions, quickly write down on a scratch sheet of paper all the things you can remember.
Turning to specific knowledge, applying department policy questions will give you an actual department policy on use of force, hot pursuit, or first aid (for example) and require you to make independent judgments about which part of a situation is more serious or dangerous. Try to figure out from the policy given and the way questions are asked the relative importance of such things as the value of life versus the value of property and when to call your supervisor versus when you don't need to call in.
Understanding orders and directives puts you through typical situations faced by typical employees, and asks you to determine if the officer in question acted properly or improperly. Or, you may be given a job description and a description of an employee's activities, and asked how congruent the two are. Be careful in reading how direct or indirect the order/directive is. Some directives contain only implied orders which leave the method of implementation up to the employee, so they are not technically "disobeying orders" all the time.
The two most important words in the legal vocabulary are "and" and "or". These make all the difference when it comes to establishing the corpus delicti for a crime. In the "and" case, both elements have to be present for a crime to occur; in the "or" case, only one of the elements have to be present. If you feel like you must study up on vocabulary, then pay careful attention to statutory definitions of such obscure things as criminal mischief, petit larceny, criminal impersonation, and the various inchoate offenses (as these are favorites of examiners).
The patrol tactics section may test you over some of the same material you learned in college You are given a particular crime problem, such as rape, and asked which shift and patrol deployment (directed, saturated, vertical, foot, bicycle) will address that problem. You can usually be safe choosing the busiest shift (4-12) with directed (geographic area) patrol on most questions, but look out for examples in need of foot or bicycle patrol. Traffic map questions show you a section of the city map with some streets being one-way and others two-way. You are then instructed to find the shortest route between two points in response to various emergencies. Pay careful attention to the instructions which tell or imply whether you can or cannot disobey traffic laws.
Using department forms is an area where questions come in two types: raw data that must be placed in the proper boxes on the form; and filled-out forms from which you must answer questions about. Do not assume that the boxes on the forms are consecutively numbered. Know how to read military time. Remember that in reports, there are differences between the responding, the arresting, and the reporting officer.
Matching composite sketches will test you over some of the same material you may have had in college classes. Here, you are shown the face of a perpetrator and then four or five other choices where one is a disguised version of the same perpetrator. Pay attention to facial features that cannot be changed easily, like eyes, mouth, nose, jaw bones, and shape of the chin. The chin is usually the most important thing. Pay no attention to scars, glasses, or hair which can be surgically altered or easily changed.
Investigative judgment questions require you to assess which piece of evidence, such as a series of statements from witnesses, is most incriminating. You may also have to demonstrate that you know how to collect information necessary for a follow-up investigation, and can rank suspects (including victims) in numerical order.
INTERVIEWING
If you are lucky enough to be called for an interview, congratulations. Consider it a sign that the agency is definitely interested in you. They have a job opening and they plan on filling it with someone like you. Remember that the purpose of an interview is not to demonstrate your knowledge or how smart you are, but to find out how "human" you are and how much you are going to cost them. It is therefore important that you don't try too hard to cover up your natural stress and nervousness and show you are capable of being aware of it. Don't try to fake your way out of anything if you goof up; admit you're more nervous than you thought. When it comes to matters of money, say you'll start at whatever scale exist from collective bargaining or civil service agreement if they have one. If they press you for a number, give them one that is fairly close to what entry-level pay is on some regional or national average.
Also, do not overuse any stock, pat, or rehearsed lines. They will quickly tire of responses on your part that involve phrases such as "depending on circumstances" or attempts to turn a weakness into an asset such as "I work such long hours that I sometimes wonder if I'm not a perfectionist". Always pause shortly to think before answering anything, and consider using some of these "safe" answers:
Q: Why did you choose our department?
A: Always say the agency in question was your 1st choice, and you wanted to be associated with a professional organization worth applying to. Don't mention any other agencies. Talk about who you know in this one or what you know about this one. Don't fall for sucker comparisons because chances are the interviewer used to work at the agency they want you to compare.
Q: Why did you choose CJ work?
A: Say something like CJ work being a challenging and interesting, diversified career with great opportunity for service and working with people
Q: What are your plans five or ten years from now?
A: The only way to flub this question is to say you have no plans. Indicate you want to grow professionally and personally, and expect your job satisfactions to increase with experience and seniority on the job. Don't fall for the sucker "I want to be Chief one day" answer.
Q: Could you shoot anyone if you had to?
A: Indicate an awareness of this hazard, claim no special immunity and given the training you have or will receive as well as your understanding of department policy, you would have no reservations about this if you had to. Say something similar if they ask if you could handle taking down some crazed 300 lb 6'5" gorilla. Don't say "I'd die trying".
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: It's best to stress activities related to law enforcement/corrections/security such as target shooting, hunting, scouting, or martial arts.
Q: What would you do if you suspected another officer was taking bribes?
A: Point out that you would look into the factual basis of your suspicion. If you have sufficient evidence to be considered probable cause, you have no choice but to report the facts to a superior for your own sake and the good of the department and the good of law enforcement everywhere.
Q: Who would you rather please, your superior officer or a civilian administrator?
A: You probably won't get this question, but if you do, say that chances are your superior officer has the good of the community in mind, and so does the civilian. Say that you would obey any order short of an illegal act, and make it your personal policy not to please any specific personality if this meant overlooking offenses and violations that it is your sworn duty to enforce.
Q: What would you do if you witnessed a pursesnatching while off-duty?
A: Indicate that you know officers are never off-duty, that your actions would depend on whether the pursesnatcher was armed and dangerous, that you would clearly identify yourself before attempting to apprehend anybody threatening human life, and that in all cases, you would be sure to get a good description of the suspect and assist with an immediate "be on lookout" broadcast.
ACADEMY TRAINING
Over the years, something called POST (Police Officer Standards and Training) has been the main source of credentialing for licensed, certified, and commissioned law enforcement officers. POST standards are not supposed to vary from state to state, and are usually mandated by General Statute. Every municipal or regional police academy in the country is supposed to be staffed by POST-certified instructors. Each state has about six or seven such academies, providing both basic and advanced training. Some charge tuition and fees, but it's usually free, and it's like going to college only with more physical training (PT) exercises. Some are run like boot camps, and others have a more easy-going commuter school approach. Still others are just like going to college part time.
It is to your advantage to sign up without a departmental affiliation if seating is available. In North Carolina, basic academies are run out of any community college, and are called BLET (Basic Law Enforcement Training). You should sign up for and attend one of these academies (the time varies from state-to-state; in NC, it's about 20 weeks). Most candidates wait until a department actually hires them so the agency pays the tuition, or is reimbursed somehow. Many candidates expect their academy costs to be picked up for them as part of standard pre-service training. For any department that's interested in you, you save them an enormous amount of money if you are already POST-certified. In fact, some places expect applicants to be already certified, since people do wash out of academies. Not all academies will take someone who hasn't been hired yet, but some of them do. Consider going to one out-of-state that allows open admission and has a short program. The credentials should transfer anywhere. You could get on a waiting list for a summer session while in college, and you might be able to get some college credit for it (if an articulation agreement exists between the academy and your university). If you have your academy experience behind you, you become the top candidate for the agency of your choice.
The typical academy curriculum includes 2-3 hour modules in:
(1) Administration of Justice (2) Criminal Investigation (3) Court Procedure (4) Human Behavior (5) Juvenile Justice (6) Legal Statutes (7) Patrol Functions (8) Traffic Laws (9) Report Writing (10) Self-Defense Tactics
With the exceptions of self-defense training, firearms qualifications, and other physical fitness exercises, most of your academy training is going to closely resemble your college classroom instruction. Each topic is taught as a module; you are given opportunities to apply and learn the material in different ways, and after each module is completed, you must pass a test on it. Most academies will allow a certain number of retakes (until you pass), but to graduate with any kind of ranking, you need to have earned a passing score of at least 70% on all the modules or on a comprehensive exam they give you (like here in North Carolina). There is a trend to make this much stricter, but sometimes the grading criteria for some modules are very subjective.
FIELD TRAINING
During this period of time (also called your "probationary period" or on-the-job training), you will be called a "rookie" and become the butt of practical jokes. Play along in good humor. You are officially being observed by unknown parties, sometimes by a partner or someone at the rank of corporal or above. You will be forced to respond to a wide variety of situations, be tempted continuously to go outside your assigned jurisdiction, and be constantly told to forget everything you learned at the academy or in college. While it's important you demonstrate mastery of the job basics and absorb some of the line officer's mentality, it is also important to remember you are being evaluated at this time for your potential at other types of assignments, such as detective work, youth work, and command positions. Be forewarned that reports from your FTO (field training officer) will be unusually harsh. They normally say you just barely make a good pimple on an officer's butt. Don't be discouraged; because once you finish field training, you can then start taking civil service exams for promotion.
PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATIONS
Almost everyone takes promotional exams as a matter of routine sometime in their career. Not everyone is prepared for it, however, as most people "hope for a miracle" or expect to be promoted on the basis of seniority only. The latter does sometimes apply to higher ranks, such as Lieutenant or Captain, for which five or ten years of service is at least expected. But in CJ work, you want to start discretely preparing for promotion as soon as possible.
Your first promotion may be the hardest thing you do (your brethren will treat you as an "administrative" type), and the tendency afterwards is to "sit back on your laurels". The best thing to do after one promotion is to start preparing for yet another promotion. Shoot for Lieutenant or Captain since you have the college education for it. Consider graduate school if you want to be a police chief one day.
The basic format of a promotional exam contains questions in the following areas:
(1) Applying written rules and regulations (2) Understanding written orders and directives (3) Knowledge of law (4) Principles of supervision (5) Principles of management and administration (6) Training and safety consciousness (7) Patrol tactics and strategies (8) Report writing and record keeping (9) Community relations (10) Investigative judgment
Applying written rules and regulations is a series of reading comprehension questions similar to what you took in your entrance exam. You will read about a new procedure, and then be asked to select the correct (or incorrect) course of action for officers to follow. Pay close attention to any circumstances or "unless" statements in what you read.
Understanding written orders and directives is a very important skill for supervisors. It is a communications skill since you must make sure your subordinates understand the order given. There are four types of orders: (1) direct orders; (2) requests; (3) implied orders; and (4) call for volunteers. Remember that you should not overuse the direct order; that you cannot discipline somebody for refusing a request; that an implied order leaves the method of implementation up to the subordinate; and that a call for volunteers should be used sparingly. Be sure to pay careful attention to follow-up in matters of order-giving.
The knowledge of law section will be a little more advanced than what you took in your entrance exam. It will not just cover statutory law, but emphasize procedural and constitutional law. It may focus on federal laws or federal court orders affecting your jurisdiction. The best thing you can do to prepare for this is to get some coaching from a lawyer.
Principles of supervision and principles of management and administration are the things you learn in a college-level course. There are also numerous in-service training opportunities in this content areas. With supervision, you need to know things like the unity of command principle (everyone knows the names of their superior officers, for example), span of control (depends on abilities, geography, and other duties), and the delegation principle (authority should always be commensurate with responsibility). You will also be given a series of reading comprehensions to identify the "style" of a manager (authoritarian, laissez-faire, or democratic), a series of critical incidents calling for the right kind of discipline, scenarios involving absenteeism or poor morale, and situations in which you must properly handle an employee grievance. With management and administration, you need to remember several rather academic things about the functions of management. The best thing to never forget is the acronym POSDCORB, invented by Luther Gulick in 1937. It stands for:
Planning (not always in writing, involves subordinates)
Organizing (by similar function & division of labor)
Staffing (don't recruit too many specialists)
Directing (find a "middle" management style)
COordinating (use delegation and follow up)
Reporting (inspect, collect, and present graphically)
Budgeting (know the various types of budgets)
Training and safety consciousness reflects the theory that job-related problems are an indication that management has failed to provide adequate training. Training is constant, and you must create a "climate" for learning. You need to know the various types of training, how to conduct a job/task analysis, and how to prepare a lesson plan. Remember that in training adults, you should avoid the academic lecture-exam format. Adults need more opportunities to apply things hands-on. With safety, you need to be concerned with clearly written policy, accountability, and a rating system. You also need to be knowledgeable of the various liability issues that stem from training and safety concerns.
Patrol tactics and strategies are again the kind of things taught in college classes. This part of the promotional exam is quite different from the map reading you had to do on your entrance exam. It is, instead, very academic and research-oriented. You need to know the theory of preventive (random, conspicuous) patrol, its drawbacks, and the advantages of alternative tactics (directed, saturated, vertical, foot, scooter, bicycle, motorcycle, dog, air, and marine patrol). In addition, you need to know what particular crime or social problem the tactic addresses as a strategy.
Report writing and record keeping is important. Everything depends on the integrity of the field note-taking process. Line officers should be cautious of personal entries they put in their activity log since these could be placed into evidence at a trial. Officers should be required to store completed logs for their entire careers. Field notes are of great assistance to advancing an investigation. You need to know who and how to interview and be able to sketch a crime scene. With record keeping, you need to know the difference between centralized and decentralized systems, and the distinction between information and intelligence.
The community relations section is, again, quite academic in nature. You need to be familiar with James Q. Wilson's typology of "styles" (watchman, legalistic, and service) as they relate to the type of community service. Be aware of the difference between public relations and community relations; only the latter opens up two-way communications. Know as many of the various crime prevention programs as you can; e.g. neighborhood watch, operation TRIAD, citizen academies. There are approximately 100 different types of community policing initiatives. Know how to accept, process, and negotiate a citizen complaint.
The investigative judgment part of the promotional exam is ordinarily not that different from what you took at the entrance stage (if you applied for a Special Agent job). Make sure that all relevant information is accounted for, and know which pieces of evidence are most consistent with the corpus delicti of the crime, as contained in state statutes. Remember that ethics also requires you to bring exculpatory information to light.
Here is a select list of job titles that may be of interest to college students. Not all places in all jurisdictions may have these positions, and most of them cannot be obtained by lateral entry simply with a college degree (although some of them can). In working your way up from the entry-level "officer" ranks, they may be things to consider or shoot for specifically.
LAW ENFORCEMENT JOB TITLES
Arson investigator Attache/Police Liaison Officer Ballistics Expert Booking Officer Border Patrol Agent
Chaplain Chief of Police Chief of Staff Commander Commissioner
Communications Specialist Community Policing Officer Community Safety Officer Community Service Officer Conservation Officer
Crime Prevention Specialist Crime Lab Technician Crime Scene Technician Customs Agent Data Processing Specialist
Deputy Chief Deputy Sheriff Detective Detention Officer Document Examiner
Director of Research/ Development Director of Scientific Services Director of Standards & Training Dispatcher Drug Enforcement Agent
EMS Coordinator Evidence Technician FBI Special Agent Fingerprint Expert Firearms Instructor
Forensic Scientist Gaming Enforcement Officer Gang Crimes Investigator Inspector Instructor
Intelligence Analyst Investigator Jailer Juvenile Specialist K-9 Handler
Lawyer Law Enforcement Planner Law Enforcement Representative Manpower Allocation Specialist Narcotics Officer
Patrol Officer Personnel Specialist Photographer Pilot Polygraph Examiner
Psychologist/ Psychiatrist/ Psychometrician Public Relations Officer Public Safety Director Radio Communications Records Management
School Liaison Scientist Secret Service Security Specialist Serologist
Sheriff Street Crimes Investigator Superintendent S.W.A.T. T.A.C. officer
Technologist Traffic Analyst Trainer Treasury Agent Trooper
Undercover Operative Undersheriff U.S. Marshal Water Patrol Officer Witness Protection
COURT-RELATED JOB TITLES
Arbitrator Assistant Administrator Assistant Prosecutor Background Investigator Bailiff
Bondsman CJ Systems Planner Court Clerk Court Reporter Courthouse Security
Defense Attorney Deputy Assistant Diversion Specialist Expert Witness Grants Administrator
Investigator Judicial Assistant Law Clerk Lawyer Legal Research
Manager Mediation Specialist Paralegal Parole Officer Probation Officer
Process Server Sentencing Analyst Victim Restitution
CORRECTIONAL JOB TITLES
Administrator Affirmative Action Officer Budget Analyst Business Officer Manager Chaplain
Chief of Programs Chief of Security Computer Specialist Correctional Clerk Correctional Counselor
Correctional Officer Employee Development Specialist Facility Manager Food Service Supervisor Health Systems Administrator
Juvenile Detention Officer Juvenile Worker Leisure Time Activities Specialist Medical Records Supervisor Ombudsman
Personnel Officer Placement Officer Psychiatrist/ Psychologist Public Relations Officer Records Office Manager
Teacher Trainer Transport Officer Unit Management Vocational Specialist
Warden
Note: Be aware that many of the careers listed are distributed by educational qualifications/experience and constantly being upgraded. Take into consideration that administrator, instructor, criminologist, counselor, lawyer, psychologist, psychiatrist, researcher, and chaplain jobs usually require a graduate or professional degree.
A WORD ABOUT ENTRY-LEVEL SALARIES
Law Enforcement
Federal jobs start at about $31,000, the national average, although more selective agencies like the U.S. Postal Inspectors and U.S. Marshals may start you out at $39,000 or more. State jobs, on average, start at about $25,000 but may vary as much as 3,000 to 5,000 either way. County jobs, on average, start at about $20,000 and don't tend to vary as much although there is some disparity between rich and poor counties. City jobs, likewise, vary depending upon the city, but the average starting pay is anywhere between $20,000 and $30,000, mostly because there are more poor than rich cities. There has been a national movement in the last year or so to get municipal entry levels up to $23,000, but these agencies have a tendency to start you out low, then give you a big raise after the first year or two, where you stay salary-wise until about five years later when you are eligible for promotion thru seniority. It is possible to make six figures a year as police chief in one of the major metropolitan police departments.
The Courts
Jobs in the court sector, like probation and parole, have salaries that vary widely. Entry level pay ranges from $22,000 to $32,000, but federal positions range from $27,000 to $49,000 (some of the highest paid starting salaries in criminal justice are in federal probation), depending upon experience. Pre-employment in corrections or investigative work is usually the best preparation besides having a college degree. Raises are not that common, but when they happen, they are across the board and usually quite large. Don't forget that the permanent hiring of college interns takes place quite often in the judiciary branch of the criminal justice system.
Corrections
Correctional pay varies tremendously from state-to-state. The national average is $19,000 with places like Arkansas starting as low as $13,000 and places like New York and New Jersey starting at $30,000 and up. Federal corrections approximates the pay of top states, and has better benefits. In corrections, you will most likely receive regular salary increases every year along with easy-to-get merit raises until you are making about $35,000 or more by your fifth year. Promotion is also much more rapid in this sector due to turnover.
Fringes to look for include: a take-home vehicle, a bullet-proof vest and other equipment, a uniform allowance, tuition reimbursement, educational incentive pay, bilingual incentive pay, paid insurance, paid holidays and vacations, a 401k or 401h pension plan, accumulation of sick leave and comp time, family benefits, early retirement, and the chance to take promotional exams early.
To maximize your income potential, consider large agencies with lots of job titles, especially civilian ones. Big cities are your best bet, but bigger is not necessarily better if the murder rate is higher than the mortality rate. If you like the idea of working at the county level, remember that when the U.S. was divided up, more counties were allocated down East than out West. Georgia, for example, has more counties than any other state. Unless you're a loner, you'll gravitate toward the comraderie of people like yourself.